U.S. Would Allow 720 Snowmobiles Daily at Yellowstone

By MICHAEL JANOFSKY

Published: August 20, 2004

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 - With federal courts in disagreement over how many snowmobiles should be permitted in Yellowstone National Park, the National Park Service on Thursday proposed allowing as many as 720 a day for three years until permanent limits can be determined.

The park service had considered five options, which would have allowed as many as 950 snowmobiles a day or as few as none at all, in seeking to balance management of the park's air, water and noise with the concerns of local businesses whose income depends on winter visitors.

"This provided the best range of opportunity for visitors, for park management and for businesses" that rely on snowmobiling in the park, John Sacklin, management assistant at Yellowstone, told reporters in a telephone conference call.

The new proposal for the park, which averages 765 snowmobiles on a winter day, will now be subject to two 30-day periods of public comment that are expected to generate a significant response from environmental groups that oppose snowmobiling in Yellowstone and from snowmobile enthusiasts who argue that the park's 2.2 million acres make it big enough for their motorized sleds as well as wildlife.

Three alternatives to the plan chosen Thursday would have allowed fewer snowmobiles into Yellowstone - none, 318 or 540 - while a fourth would have allowed 950. Suzanne Lewis, Yellowstone's superintendent, said that even if public sentiment overwhelmingly favored more restrictions, the final rule would most likely reflect the selected plan.

"This is not a public opinion poll," Ms. Lewis said. "This is not about majority votes. It's about comments."

The 720-snowmobile option would appear to stake out a middle ground between a federal court ruling here last December that upheld a Clinton administration plan to phase out snowmobiles in Yellowstone over three years and, on the other hand, the decision of a federal court in Wyoming two months later that allowed as many as 950 a day.

Though the litigation continues, Ms. Lewis said the park service proposal was not a response to court action but instead a way to develop a winter management plan for Yellowstone, as well as for nearby Grand Teton National Park and the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway, which connects the two.

The option chosen Thursday was hailed by the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association. Its president, Ed Klim, said, "It makes a lot of sense," adding that he was "glad the administration has followed through on this."

"We hope everybody gives it a chance and sees that it can work effectively," Mr. Klim said. "Everybody can use the park at the same time. There's lots of room out there."

But environmental groups and former employees of the park service attacked the plan, accusing the agency of acting irresponsibly. Michael Finley, a former Yellowstone superintendent, said, "If the administration goes through with this, it will mark a new low in its pattern of ignoring science to benefit a special interest at the public's expense."

The proposal would allow only newer, four-stroke snowmobiles, barring the older two-stroke varieties. But Jon Catton, a conservationist who works on Yellowstone issues, said park officials were not being honest when they argued that the four-stroke machines made less noise than the two-stroke.

According to an internal Yellowstone memorandum that Mr. Catton made available, a safety officer told others at a Jan. 27 meeting that "four-stroke snowmobiles are almost as loud as two-stroke machines for the operator."